This Week in Politics
A British Tory Leadership Election
The final stretch of the Tory leadership election is ahead. After a strong showing in the third round of voting the former Home Secretary and centrist James Cleverly is out. Other centrist Tom Tugendhat's support from the third round did not translate into concrete Cleverly votes. The shocking result of the fourth round pits two candidates on the party's right against each other; Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick. The final membership vote will determine the next Conservative party leader and the result will be announced on 2 November.
The result has left Labour supporters and Liberal Democrats "gleeful," as the Guardian described it. While the centrist wing of the party finds itself in agony as it must decide between two candidates it never wanted to vote for. Seemingly the Tugendhat vote did prefer Cleverly, yet, in a bid to remove Robert Jenrick from the equation backed Badenoch.
“What the hell are you doing?” One Tory MP recited was the response from many of his local party members.
As the centre reckons with choosing between two candidates it does not like both Labour and the Liberal Democrats see an opportunity in continued Tory division. Labour described Conservative members' task as “choosing between two of the architects of Tory failure.” A Labour MP jokingly referred to the ongoing gifting scandal asking “Does Tory leadership result need to be declared as a gift?” The Liberal Democratic response was more focused on policy and the controversies of the candidates.
Whoever is elected the next leader of the Conservatives has a mammoth challenge in rebuilding a party threatened to the right by Nigel Farage and his Reform party alongside the centre by the Liberal Democrats. Moreover, reconstructing the Blue Wall. As Britain moves on from 14 years of Conservative government the party must redefine itself, yet as Badenoch and Jenrick face off enthusiasm in the centre remains low. If either candidate can unite a party tarnished by infighting remains to be seen, although the task is sequential in regaining power.
A National Popular Vote Guy
Minnesota Governor and the Democratic nominee for Vice President Tim Walz stated the Electoral College "needs to go" at a fund-raiser. His statement follows suit with the sentiment of a clear majority of Americans and Walz's prior opinion as governor Tim Walz joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an initiative aimed at circumventing the Electoral College and moving to a national popular vote system. Moreover, described himself as “a national popular vote guy” at a similar event in Seattle. The Harris-Walz Campaign was quick to clarify the abolishing of the Electoral College was not a part of its agenda. The Trump Campaign asked why Tim Walz would "hate the Constitution so much?"
